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A Thousand Suns
A Thousand Suns is the fourth studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on September 8, 2010 by Machine Shop Recordings and Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded from November 2008 to August 2010 at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, and was produced by Rick Rubin and band member Mike Shinoda, who both produced the band's previous album Minutes to Midnight (2007). A Thousand Suns is a concept album dealing with human fears such as nuclear warfare, as well as numerous social issues, blending human ideas with technology. The band said of the album to be a drastic departure from their previous ones, and experimented with new and different sounds in its production. Its themes of nuclear warfare are further reflected in its title, which is a reference to a line of Hindu Sanskrit scripture first popularized in 1945 by J. Robert Oppenheimer, who described the atomic bomb as being "as bright as a thousand suns". Upon its release, A Thousand Suns polarized critics and fans, who were divided over the band's new sound. Despite this, it was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 and ten other international charts. By June 2017, it had sold over 1.1 million copies in the United States and over 6 million copies worldwide, and was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 15, 2017 and is the 1st album to receive 100% with fans and critics. Four singles were released from the album: "The Catalyst", "Waiting for the End", "Burning in the Skies", and "Iridescent". Linkin Park toured in support of the album with the A Thousand Suns World Tour from October 2010 to September 2011. History Early in June, Linkin Park vocalist posted what appeared to a be an animated image of static on the official Linkin Park site. As time went on, the image soon appeared to quickly read 'MOREMESSAGESCOMINGSOON'. Following this post two weeks later, another message appeared online, this time featuring a block of Binary numbers, which when converted and translated to English, read a near direct quote by J. Robert Oppenheimer. Fans were asked to search hard for an understanding to the quote which appeared to be incomplete. J. Robert Oppenheimer was soon to be discovered as the leader of the Trinity Project, a project which experimented with the first atomic bomb and that his quote was missing three words, 'A' 'THOUSAND' 'SUNS'. Another message that followed appeared to be new lyrics from an unknown new song. However, there were missing letters throughout the lyrics. When retrieving the missing letters and putting them together, they made the word, 'THE CATALYST'. Later in the month, another image came online, this time as a letter Mike Shinoda had personally written himself to Linkin Park fans. The message discussed the band's excitement about releasing the album and dedication to not spoiling anything. Fans later discovered that a watermarked text appeared in the image when the colours were altered with a standard editing program. The watermark appeared to read 'THE CATALYST /// AUGUST 2ND' which was then confirmed as the first single. One more picture eventually made it's way online, only this time, it was a group of jumbled up images that if placed together, made the recently updated Linkin Park symbol. There also appeared to be a green watermark in the image when placed together correctly. The watermark read 'A THOUSAND SUNS /// SEPTEMBER' which officially confirmed the title and month of release for the upcoming album. Not long after, Mike officially announced and confirmed all the information without the use of a riddle or a puzzle. Track listing iTunes deluxe version bonus track Japanese edition bonus track Category:Linkin Park albums Category:A Thousand Suns